Searching for Myself
by Fang-channn
Summary: T for moderate use of comic violence, reg. violence, crude language, and romantic stuff. some people slightly out of character. full summary in chap 1. Akane is an orphan in Suna, with only an old leaf headband to go by, she goes to Konoha to find herself
1. Konoha!

**HI!! fang here, so this is the first installment of my first fanfic. i used my OC because i'm a noob, and so i could get used to writing the real characters actions.  
The time is in shippuden, only because of their ages, and i had to have them at 16 because of the romantic side of this story. BUT, all their clothes are still first part clothes, the original ones. so that means that sakura's hair is long too, ok! **

**i really hope you like the story, so please reveiw, i want to hear your thoughts on it. :) tell me your suggestions, any mistakes i made, ALL YOUR QUESTIONS, and your all around opinion. **

Intro:

The countryside scenery of crawls by as I travel slowly towards the Hidden Village of Konoha. The day is warm, but a cool wind blows through my short green hair, and throws my long side bangs out. I sigh.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it Toboe?" I say to my black and white wolf Toboe, who fights with me, travels with me, eats with me… basically with me constantly and my best friend. He barks a happy reply. I smile and rub between his ears, his favorite place.

As we continue along the path through the heavily wooded land of Fire, I fiddle with my Konoha headband, the last relic of my parents, who abandoned me at birth, but I soon get depressed, so I put it away and focus on tracking the birds in the trees.

Time flies by when your having fun right? Well I wasn't exactly having fun, but I was so focused on the birds I didn't hear Toboe bark or see the oversized door looming in front of me, that I simply walked into it.

"ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is why we live outside Toboe, not because we're wolves but because I RUN INTO DOORS!!!!!!" I scream at the top of my lungs and fall to the ground, clutching my head… almost. I hit my head on the door one more time on the way down and pass out.

Toboe Grabbed me by the sand headband around my neck and pulled me to the side of the road. I know this because he told me afterwards, when I had regained consciousness.

The next day I walk into Konoha warily. The sun is still shining, birds are still chirping and all those other supposedly wonderful things are still happening. But still it is a ninja village and I know I'm being watched, I'm not from here, how cold I not be? And besides I don't want to run into any more 50-foot doors… I walk in circles for about an hour until I come across something new….

Chapter ONE

I grimace at the smell of ramen from a place called Ichiraku's. I can see a boy in orange eating there alone. Around my age…I think.

"I'm lost so there's really no other way…" I murmur to myself and Toboe. "Hello! Can you give me some directions?!" I Yell to the orange boy, as I walk towards the ramen stand.

"You talkin' to me?" He asks incredulously, as if nobody ever talks to him.

"No, I'm definitely talking to Bob the donut guy who is sitting next to you." I say sarcastically, but he seems to take me seriously and continues to look dejected…until he looks next to himself and realizes he's eating alone.

"HEYY!! There's no Bob the donut guy here!!!" He yells pointing his ramen flavored finger in my face.

"Yes, I know. Get your nose pickers outta my face though, they smell revolting." and when he looks at me as though I had spoken in a foreign language I said " Don't point at me it's rude and your hands smell like ramen, my nose is really sensitive, and I just don't like ramen that much, so they kinda stink to me"

His eyes open up really wide as I say I don't like ramen and I quickly change the subject. "Look…orange-kun… I need directions to the Hokage's home so I can speak with him, can you tell me how to get there or show me the way?"

"Orange-kun??? My name is Naruto! And you don't know how to get to the Hokage's house?" He gets this hysterical look on his face and starts laughing. "You really must be an idiot!!"

I take a step back in shock. 'Did this kid really just call me an idiot?' I hear Toboe growl from a few feet away outside. "Well then if you think I'm an idiot then I have no need to be in your presence oh Loud and Orange One!!" I stomp outside and pick up Toboe. "C'mon Toboe, this fruitcake hasn't got a clue." I walk away as Naruto continues to point and laugh at nothing, completely oblivious to the fact that I have left.

I walk around the Village for a few more minutes and end up getting nowhere fast. I pull Toboe out of my bag and hold him up as I lean against a flower shop.

"At least it smells good here, Toboe, and it's quiet." I say to him and he barks in return. Inside the flower shop a blonde girl hears the bark. She walks to the entrance and frowns.

"I swear I heard Akamaru, and where he is Kiba is, but there's no Kiba, so why'd I hear Akamaru?" Then she looks over at me with my ninja-wolf puppy in hand and screams.

Toboe hates when people scream. Their voice lets off higher frequencies than humans can hear, but Toboe can, and it drives him insane, causes him pain. So as Blonde-san screams, Toboe starts writhing in pain, and I drop him. Which hurts him more and he starts howling. Which makes Blonde-san scream even louder. This goes on until I cant stand it any more (so immediately that is) and I rush over to Blonde-san and clamp my hand over her mouth.

"Please. I'm sorry if I scared you, but you need to stop screaming. It hurts Toboe's ears, and he wont be quiet until you are. I understand we frightened you but please, please, please be QUIET!" I'm forcibly whispering in her ear until I freeze and cannot move. Blonde-san get's out of my grasp and runs to someone behind me.

"Ino, what did this green-haired freak do to you?" a sleepy sounding male voice says quietly. Toboe had stopped howling when I put my hand over Blonde-san's face and quieted her down. He is now growling menacingly at Sleepy-san and looks ready to kill.

"Toboe, I'm not in pain, stop growling. It's okay, I'm not hurt." I say completely surprised that I can talk. "Whoever you are I didn't mean your friend any harm and Toboe is just protective of me, so can you please just let me go?"

"Not a chance. Not until I know who you are and what you want your not going anywhere. I want you to turn around and get comfortable, because this is an interrogation I'm not letting you back out on." Sleepy-can said. I could hear the menace and hatred in his voice, I know those emotions well. He releases me from immobilization and I can hear him walking up behind me.

"Toboe, c'mere, you have nothing to fear." I murmur to my wolf. And just as he is in my arms, a female voice says from behind me.

"On the contrary, freak, you have everything to fear." A threat. Laced with hatred and…jealousy? What in the world do I have for her to be jealous of?

I ignore Blonde-san and her threats and turn around to see Sleepy-san. He has his hair pulled up into a ponytail at the top of his head, giving it a faintly ridiculous pineapple look, and a fishnet shirt underneath a vest. Not only is his voice sleepy but his whole posture suggested that this whole fiasco was-"

"How troublesome." He says and sits down on the bench. "I said make yourself comfortable. I'm not leaving until this is over."

I sit down on the ground facing him and try not to blush. The moment I had turned around I was smitten by… I don't even know his name!!!!

"Before we begin, what is your name? I should think it is something I should know before we begin?" I cock my head to one side and look at him with the same curiosity Toboe was smelling his toes with.

"Shikamaru Nara, and yourself?" he lifts an eyebrow and stared me down. Shikamaru, huh….I LIKE IT!!!!

"Akane Miakatsuki , and this is Toboe Miakatsuki, my only family." I point to myself and Toboe as I say our names. "What can we call you?"

"Shikamaru-kun, and who is we?" Shikamaru replies, his eyes closed.

"Toboe and I. I understand him." I shrug my shoulders as best I can in my frozen state.

O_o. "Okay then, let us begin." Shikamaru places his hands in what I think is a hand sign, and I visibly tense up, it's been months since we were in a proper ninja fight, and our skills are rusty.

"Akane, what are you doing here in Konoha?" Shikamaru asks, blatantly getting to the point.

"I have something I need to do that requires the help of the Hokage, and the use of the family bloodlines, in the hall of records. My business is my own, I act independently." I state indignantly, shooting Blonde-san one of my trademark death glares, for laughing at me.

"Oh and you think that were going to let some foreign ninja just walk in and assassinate the Hokage?" Blonde-san says, flipping her long hair, which was totally unnecessary, considering it's in a ponytail. "If that's what you think you can walk your dumb ass and your mutt back out of- OUCH!!!!" as Blonde-san had been talking Toboe was getting more and more restless because of the hate that dripped form every word she spoke, so he walked over and bit her…hard. A menacing growl escaped from low on Toboe's throat, and he got into a fighting stance any threatened wolf would use.

"Ino, shut up and go back to work. Akane, come with me." Shikamaru wasn't even fazed by Blonde-san's overzealous hatred and her screaming. "We'll take this to the Hokage, she will be able to deal with it better." Shikamaru got up and walked away, I followed with Toboe, leaving a bleeding, fuming, pissed off blonde standing menacingly in front of a quaint little flower shop… I giggled at the irony of it all.

*giggle*


	2. Tsunade hime

**So i hadn't realized it until it was much much too late, but chapter one is in first person. From here on out i will be writing in third person omicent (narrorator not in story and knows everything that the characters do, think and say) XD sorry!!! I hope you don't mind my dumb mistake! I started writiing this story sometime in january 09 and forgot about it, i rediscovered it while going through all my stuff and decided to work on it some more.**

**Once again, read, review, and tell me all your comments, questions, suggestions, and any mistakes i made. **

This chapter is mainly about Akane's past, even though i made her life history very short, XD kama-san isn't one for speeches. you'l see sometime why i called her kama-san :foreshadowing!:

Chapter one : Tsunade Hokage-sama

"_Ino, shut up and go back to work. Akane, come with me." Shikamaru wasn't even fazed by Blonde-san's overzealous hatred and her screaming. "We'll take this to the Hokage, she will be able to deal with it better." Shikamaru got up and walked away, I followed with Toboe, leaving a bleeding, fuming, pissed off blonde standing menacingly in front of a quaint little flower shop… I giggled at the irony of it all. _

_*giggle*_

Akane was completely overwhelmed when she saw the Hokage mansion, with it's Hokage heads ona amountain looming behind it. Never in her life had she seen such a place.

"Err…" Akane faltered in front of the door. It was normal sized, unlike the entrance to the village. A normal green door, absolutely nothing special about it, but it still seemed intimidating. "Ah...um" at a loss for words, Akane followed Shikamaru sheepishly, uncomfortable in her own skin.

Shikamaru looked behind him at the very uneasy green-haired girl behind him. Smiling a little, he stopped and said in a comforting way "there's nothing to worry about, Tsunade is a great person, she'll let you do what you need to." his encouragement seemed to have a an effect on the nauseous looking girl, who looked up in surprise.

'_did he just…comfort me? Naw, not a chance…but, that did make me feel better.' _Akane closed her eyes for a moment, clearly trying to focus and center herself, as the pair had arrived at yet another normal sized green door, labeled HOKAGE in black. Akane opened her eyes slowly, the colour dazzling, even in the modest light. Shikamaru realized what she had done. Focusing chakra on vital sense points is a simple recon strategy. On the eyes, ears, nose, hands and feet gives the ninja higher sense levels, giving them an advantage in any situation, though Akane was in no danger. Shikamaru decided it would be best to leave the subject alone.

"Hokage-sama, it's Shikamaru and I have a guest from a different ninja village, though at this time her affiliations are unimportant. May we come in?" Shikamaru's speech pattern was no different than normal, just a little more polite.

"Yeah, just hold on a moment while I kick this ramen freak out." a female voice calls from inside and Akane smells the slightly familiar scent of beef ramen and unclean boy body…orange-kun. Akane sneers and Toboe barks, knowing who his master was sneering at, because he too knew that scent. The door opened suddenly and the rambunctious orange clad boy was bodily thrown from the room, face planting into the wall opposite the door with a thump.

"Shikamaru and guest, please come in now." Tsunade said. Akane peeked into the room to find a blonde woman with exceptionally large breasts sitting at a desk overflowing with mounds of unfinished paperwork, kneading her forehead. "I'm sorry about that, Naruto got in a little bit of trouble AGAIN. But before we do anything, introductions!"

The woman stood and walked over to Akane, who trembled in fear. Tsunade grabbed the girl by the shoulders and bent down to meet her at eye level.

"In Konoha we do things right, so I need to know everything about what you need, we can kick out the blockhead if he makes you all fidgety." Tsunade has a bright smile on and spoke in the way a mother would to her daughter.

"Ah…erm…okay, but Sleepy-kun can stay if he likes." at the sound of the nickname Akane gave him, Shikamaru pulled a Sasuke O_O and looked completely stunned, Tsunade however let out the biggest laugh EVER. Akane turned beet red when she saw what effect her nicknames had on the two ninjas, and proceeded to examine her feet like they were the most interesting thing she'd ever seen.

Tsunade stopped laughing abruptly and looked down at the little girl in front of her. "We still need to know why you're here. Sit down, and tell me what you need."

Akane stopped trembling and looked up, a businesslike air surrounding her. She picked up her little wolf and sat down.

"Can I start from the very beginning? Otherwise my story will seem like it has no purpose." Akane was still nervous. In her entire life, she had only known herself, Toboe, the teachers she has forgotten and the various unlucky souls who she killed mercilessly, but that only amounted to two in her mind, Herself and Toboe. And in the past two hours she had met four new people, seen at least seventy, and was completely and utterly overwhelmed.

"Yes go ahead." Tsunade made herself comfortable.

"My name is Akane Miakatsuki. I am 16 years old, or so I am told. I have no birthday as there are no records of my birth in existence, to my knowledge. I am on a quest to find myself, my name, my heritage, my family.

" I was found half buried in the sand next to the entrance to Sunagakure, by the elder sister of the current, and fifth, Kazekage. She then took me to a nearby hospital and I was lost from her memory. There I grew up in the orphanage, and when I expressed my want to become a ninja a was accepted into the ninja academy.

"My growth as a ninja was astonishing. At the age of 8 I was a chunin and at the age of 12 I gained the title Jounin, and trained a team of genins older than I was. At that age I was on missions constantly, always away from home. Only in Sunagakure long enough to heal my wounds and get another mission. And now at 16 I am an elite Jounin and on a personal mission. I have taken personal leave to find myself, therefore my country that might not be my country is not involved in this mission.

"I found out three weeks ago that I was not forgotten by Temari-sama, she had kept something of mine until I was ready to bear the truth." Akane stifled a sniffle, talking about the past was difficult. She pulled from her smallish bag the tattered and torn Konoha headband. She traced her name that was carved into to the back. "Temari-sama told me that this was found tied around my body. I do not know here it came from other than that I must have some kind on family in this village, perhaps the name Akane isn't mine, and I bear my mothers name, whatever the case, I have come to find out if this is the country that runs in my blood. Please help me." Akane stood suddenly and bowed deeply to the Hokage.

"Well then, the family records are not contained with in this place, just bills and boring things, but if you go to each house with an escort, I'm sure that you would be allowed to see the family records of all births with in the time." Tsunade smiled at the girl. "But you also must be ready to accept the fact that you may not be in any records, and are…illegitimate." At the last word a sadness fell over the room.

"I have been prepared for a very long time." Akane put on a mask of strength and pretended that it truly wouldn't bother her to know that technically she did not exist, that for real, she was nobody, a nothing, not even a legitimate baby. The memories of her past flooded her mind:

_/flashback/_

_Akane is seven years old. A twelve year old boy held a kunai knife in his left hand and was sneering at her with a hatred that was mind filling, yet stemmed from nothing. _

"_You don't belong here. Only people who are someone deserve to be ninja! You don't even have a proper name! No family! You don't deserve to exist!" The boy was flushed red with anger as he moved to strike. He only moved a few inches when he was engulfed in a stream of blood scented sand, and crushed. A small timid looking boy with fiery red hair poked his head around the corner and smiled brightly. He held a teddy bear in his arms and looked like he hadn't slept ever. But Akane didn't care, one friend, even the hated son of the fourth Kazekage, was enough for Akane. _

_/end flashback/_

Gaara-kun. Akane's one friend, and then the tragic incident that tore his sanity from him, made him think that there was nobody who would ever truly love him, ever. He had alienated Akane then, and taken on his signature bloodthirsty hatred of everyone but himself.

"Gaa-kun." Akane suddenly lost control and fell to the floor weeping. ' it had been because of Gaa-kun that I found Toboe, but I still miss Gaa-kun more than I miss the sun on the hot sand.' Akane thought, her grief overwhelming her. The room span around her as her body lost control, and Akane blacked out.

*thump*

"Akane? Akane!" a voice called, but Akane never answered, as she fell deeper and deeper into her unconsciousness, the voice faded, and soon was silent.


	3. Hospitals and Crazy fangirls part 1

**Fang again, XD. SUNA!! i love it! the little gaara flashback was sweet. Yes Gaara himslf will come into the story sometime, but idk when. prolly like chapter four or five or something, i'm just guesstimating. i'm writing this story with only a general idea of what i want, so i dont know. **

**As always, read, review with your comments, questions, suggestions, and with ant mistakes i have made!**

Chapter two: HOSPITALS AND CRAZY FANGIRLS!

"_Gaa-kun." Akane suddenly lost control and fell to the floor weeping. ' it had been because of Gaa-kun that I found Toboe, but I still miss Gaa-kun more than I miss the sun on the hot sand.' Akane thought, her grief overwhelming her. The room span around her as her body lost control, and Akane Blacked out._

_*thump* _

"_Akane? Akane!" a voice called, but Akane never answered, as she fell deeper and deeper into her unconsciousness, the voice faded, and soon was silent._

Akane woke in a bright room with too much white in it. Toboe was, as usual, sleeping silently on her belly. Akane was comforted by the familiar warmth of the little wolf, but her strange surroundings troubled her, as well as a pounding headache that made her vision swim before her eyes.

"Sleep. I need more sleep." Akane whispered to herself, saying it out loud more to hear something than to finalize the idea in her mind. She slept for four more days in a row.

On the fifth day, Akane woke slowly. She didn't open her eyes at first, only let her mind travel over her body, checking if she was hurt. She listened then, and heard the soft ba-da-thump ba-da-thump ba-da-thump of Toboe's heart. The soft sound of the wolf's breathing. Her own heartbeat and soft steady breathing. And another faint heartbeat, across the room. And the even fainter breathing of that person.

Akane opened her eyes after listening to the faint heartbeat for a moment. She sat up slowly and looked to her left, nobody was there, then she looked right, where a boy was sleeping peacefully. His longish black hair was swept back away from his face, thought it looked as though his bangs usually hung in his face, while the rest was put behind is ears, his refined features were attractive, yet he still seemed to look angry, even in his sleep.

Akane watched the boy for a while until she realized she was incredibly hungry and desperately had to pee. She pulled the blankets off of her and swung her legs over the edge of the hospital bed. She used her arms to set herself lightly on the ground, but when she put her full weight on her feet, her knees bucked and she fell to the floor, crashing into the bed, making a loud noise, knocking over the vase of flowers on her bedside table, and consequently waking up her sleeping roommate. Cursing her stupidity, Akane stumbled to her feet, and slipped on the wet floor- only to be caught by a pair of pale arms with white arm warmers on them.

Looking up, Akane finds herself drawn in by the dark eyes. The pale boy helps Akane to her feet, and smiles. Then, his eyes widen and a very faint pink tinge appears on his cheeks. "I'm S-Sasuke." he says, tripping over his words, and blushing even more. 'Whyy am i nervous? I shouldn't be nervous, I dont even know her! Get your head together Sasuke, and...TALK!' "I've never seen you in Konoha before. What's your name?" with his self-confidence back he regains his apathetic outer personality.

"Akane, where am I?" Akane motions to the place around her, hospital beds medicine smell, things like that.

"The...hospital, maybe?" Sasuke looks at her like she's stupid, with a cocky little smile on his face. "Where did you think you were?"

"I'm not sure, I've never been here before." Akane stuck her tounge out at Sasuke "I was half awake and i'm hungry, that's not good when your in a new place and trying to think properly!" XP

Akane huffed and walked out the door, in search of food, her little wolf trotting along next to her. Sasuke unconciously smiled softly, unexplained happiness bubbling up inside him, like a fizzy drink when you sake it and open it. Then he realized what he was doing and shook his head clear of all the fizz 'why am i smiling anyway, it's not like i care. psht, i dont even know her' Sasuke looked at his messy bed and sighed, an ovewhelming need to stalk the strange green haird girl pulled him away from his sleep, much to his own unhappiness.

Akane plodded down the dustly Konoha roads, fuming at herself for not asking the way to the market. She pulled at her clothes and continued to walk, unaware a certain pale boy was following her.

Shikamaru was having another lovely, lazy, trouble free day, laying in a dreamy half-asleep state on his bed, that is until Ino stormed into his bedroom and pinned him down.

"She's pissing me off! How can she just lay there asleep for FIVE DAYS! I can barely sleep for 10 hours and she's in there for FIVE DAYS! AAANNNDDD SHE HAS SASUKE INTHERE WITH HER!!!! OMJOAS!!!**(fangnote- oh my jesus on a stick, or if you find that offensive substitute OMGB, oh my gummy bears XD)** WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY WOULD HE....."Ino gets up and starts stopming around and fuming, her face turning red and steam coming out of her ears train style. Shikamaru on the other hand mumbled how troublesome and went to sleep.

"HEY ASSHOLE! I"M TALKING TO YOU!!!!!" Ino realized some minutes later that shikamaru wasn't paying attention, and proceded to pick him up and bodily throw him from his room out the window, much to the dismay of Akane, who was listening with curiously to the muffled yelling with her head cocked slightly to the side.

BLAMMO!

Shikamaru fies into Akane who realizes half a second too late what's happening, and sikamaru squashes her.

Ino storms through the house of Nara, and slams open the door. "SHIKAMARU YOU TEME!!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY DAMN SYMPATHY!?!?!?" Ino runs away from the scene, leaving the still sleeping shikamaru laying contentedly on Akane's belly, Akane however, is more confused than she has ever been. As soon as Ino round the corner howeverm Shikamru sit up and smiles.

"Sorry for falling on you. Don't mind Ino, she's on her period, it happens every month. I feel bad for the enemy ninja who pisses her off on a mission." Shikamaru shudders and smiles again. Akane however is dizzy, and mumbles hospital, before falling down unconcious.

Shikamaru smiles again and pickes the girl up and carries her piggyback style back to the hospital.

The nurse at the hospital running the front desk shakes her head and says "We just let her out! She slept for FIVE DAYS after you left her here the last time Nara-sama, oh, my, that's quite the bump. How?"

Shikamaru gives the nurse Akane, and says "Ino threw me out a window, and i landed on top of her, she probably fainted from shock, but look her over for any broken bones, i'm heavy you know." Shikamaru turns around and gives a little wave before heading home, to watch the clouds some more.

Sasuke saw the hole ordeal and shook his head in disgust, he'd have Sakura hit ino for that one. Sasuke set off, following Shikamaru to the hospital, where he waited out side for shikamaru to leave.

"Oh Sasuke, hey, you out of the hospital too?" Shikamaru spotted Sasuke leaning on a tree, watching the crowds go by on the street.

"Yeah, i was better a few days ago but Tsunade-hime, came and asked me to help the Suna girl around Konoha." Sasuke looked exasperated. "MAN, how can that chick sleep for that long? I don't get it! I'm going to go inside and do my duties as guide." Sasuke walked away.

"More like watch her sleep for another five days."

"Say what, you lazy bum?"

"Nothing, nothing." Shikamaru smirked when he saw the slight blush playing on Sasuke's pale cheeks.

Sasuke went inside and the nurse looked up. "Oh, yes, Tsunade-sama told me you'd be helping the girl. Same room." Sasuke nodded and let himself in.


	4. hospitals and crazy fangirls part 2

**Fang again! so this chappy is partly about Akane and partly about Sasuke. brief rundown if you can't take hints don't read if you don't want to know straight away.  
Sasuke, Itachi, and Madara/Tobi are all alive. Obito was killed by a crime lord of different country. (like Gato in the land of waves) Said crime lord also saw the Uchiha clan as a very definate threat to his safety (or something, idk) and had ninja murder the entire Uchiha clan one night. Sasuke was staying at Shikamaru's house, Itachi was on a mission, and Madara/Tobi was out in the world somewhere being badass and cuddly.  
ok? so, now that you hav teh history of Uchiha, READ ON!  
p.s. a little bit of fluff at the end, so X3 idk, i really wanted to make this one a fluff filler chapter, just to be a fangirl(even tho i hate Sasuke. i'm a DeiDei fangirl)**

**So as always, read, review, and tell me whatcha think!!!**

* * *

_"Oh Sasuke, hey, you out of the hospital too?" Shikamaru spotted Sasuke leaning on a tree, watching the crowds go by on the street._

_"Yeah, I was better a few days ago but Tsunade-hime, came and asked me to help the Suna girl around Konoha." Sasuke looked exasperated. "MAN, how can that chick sleep for that long? I don't get it! I'm going to go inside and do my duties as guide." Sasuke walked away._

_"More like watch her sleep for another five days."_

_"Say what, you lazy bum?"_

_"Nothing, nothing." Shikamaru smirked when he saw the slight blush playing on Sasuke's pale cheeks._

_Sasuke went inside and the nurse looked up. "Oh, yes, Tsunade-sama told me you'd be helping the girl. Same room." Sasuke nodded and let himself in._

Sasuke looked at the green haired girl lying peacefully in front of him. Her slow breathing was like a lullaby to him, washing away all his anger and hatred, leaving only the happiness.

"Happiness" Sasuke murmured softly to himself. It was something he didn't have often. A gift. A memory, mostly though. Sasuke got up from the little plastic hospital chair and walked over to the bed. His eyes traced over the heavy makeup she wore, the smooth skin, and the faint scars of battle on her neck and cheeks. To Sasuke, she was beautiful. Beautiful...

"NO." Sasuke walked away suddenly and threw his arms in the air. 'I promised myself I wouldn't fall in love, I promised I wouldn't move on until I found my parents killer, until Onii-chan and Uncle Obito were avenged!!!'

But even over the screaming inside his head, he could hear the slow, rhythinc breathing of Akane. 'Why does she always make me feel so whole? So…happy…"

He turned and looked at her, lying there, so innocent and unaware of the war raging in Sasuke's mind. His soft footsteps seemed to echo in the mostly empty room as he walked over to her. His pale hand trembled as he touched her warm cheek. She mumbled unintelligibly in her sleep, and Sasuke smiled. Her face twitched and she frowned, and Sasuke's mind was flooded by the images playing on her eyelids as she dreamed.

_Sand, everywhere, sand. In the distance a young boy with blue-green eyes and long blonde hair stood crying. A man with blonde hair as well shed a single tear for the baby he had placed safely within the walls of Sunagakure, and he touched her cheek,__"please dont hate me, my little one." He took out a blank ninja headband from his pocket and scratched A-K-A-N-E into the metal with his Kunai, along with a slightly wrong version of the Konoha leaf. He placed the headband the baby's blanket. The little boy ran forward and picked up the baby. From around his neck he took a silver talisman with the Iwagakure symbol on it and moved to put it on the baby's neck but was stopped by his father. "No, she can't find us. She can't know." The boy started crying again and held his sister close, in her sleep she mumbled. The man picked up his daughter, and touched her cheek, and three red triangles appered under her left eye. He held his hand there and the memories of her, all the ones he ever had, were stored within her. The young boy did the same. The baby was put inside the entrance to Sunagakure and the two ninja walked away. From up near the gate, a young sandy blonde-haired girl on a flying fan came down from the sky and picked up the baby. "Iwagakure" she murmured, touching the pendant the boy had secretly stored within her blanket. "someday, when she's ready she'll have to be told." The Girl looked out into the distance at an approaching sandstorm, and the fading figures of the baby's family. The girl turned, and walked away. _

_A young blonde girl dyes her hair green for the first time._

_The green-haired girl throws Kunai at a target, being watched secretly by a little red-haired boy with dark ring's around his eyes._

_The green-haired girl is bestowed her Sunagakure Ninja headband._

_The girl is told about the headband that her parents left her by the sandy blonde who shows the headband. The girl runs away with the headband and is out of the city before the sandy blonde can tell her what really happened._

_Ichiraku's_

_The road near the Uchiha estate._

_Tsnade-hime's office._

_Sasuke sleeping._

_Sasuke blushing, smiling, laughing at her._

Sasuke tears his hand from the girl's cheek, and looks at her. 'She dosn't know the truth....' He thought 'She's fighting a battle she can't win without the truth, like me.' Sasuke felt empathy for the girl, who never knew her parents. He touched her hand and held it. He leaned forward towards her face, and his lips lightly touched her cheek.

Sasuke spent the next two days with Akane, in the hospital, mostly stroking her face and hair. He watched her sleep, so peaceful, and fell sleep next to her sittling down with his head lying on the bed next to her.

On the morning of the third day Akane woke to a warm body near her, a heartbeat that wasn't Toboe, but still very familliar. Akane opened her eyes and sat up on her elbows. There, sleeping, with his head on the bed and a little pool of drool at the corner of his mouth, was Sasuke. Only then did she realize his hand held hers and his fingers were interlaced with her own. She smiled at the pale boy, a fizzy, wonderful feeling was welling up inside her chest. Akane poked Sasuke lightly on the head to make sure he was completely asleep, which he was, and moved his head onto her stomach, where it felt more comfortable. Akane touched sasuke's hair and was shocked at how soft it was. She ran her fingers through it and enjoyed the warm sun on her body. A sense of peace blanketed the room, and lulled her back to sleep.

Sasuke woke with his head rising and fallling, and odd sensation. He felt his fingers were still entwined with Akane's and her other hand held a lock of his hair.

He sat up and Akane's hand fel with a soft thump onto her stomach. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Mornin" She said, yawning hugely.

"It's afternoon, almost evening." Sasuke teased her and smiled softly.

"Oops" Akane sat up and stretched. "Who cares though?" The butterflies were back in her tummy, but...why?

Sasuke stood and stretched his back. He held out his hand for akane to take, but she just looked at him like he was an alien.

"We can't have you knocking over everything like last time. It was quite a mess you know." Akane took his hand and got out of bed, her naked feet sensitive to the cold floor. She looked up and found her face inches from Sasuke's, Color rose in her cheeks as she began to back away, but his grip on her was strong and all she managed to do was put herself in an even more nerve-wracking position. She had moved away, but insted had topled over, landing on her back, with Sasuke on top of her, their noses practically touching. She could hear her heart beating super fast and swore he could too.

'Oh shit. OH SHIT!!!' Sasuke could feel his lower half tingling and heard his heart pounding. Her face was so close, he could see the different shades of blue and green flecks in her eyes. She was so pretty. His eyes were closing on their own, his face moving in microscompic increments towars hers, their lips just barely touching, their hearts beating at the speed of light...

"OH FUCK NO YOU DON"T BITCH!" a screetch came from outside as Ino pounced on the window, smacking her face against the glass, shattering it, and she fell thirty feet down on her chest.

Akane and Sasuke, shocked, scrambled to the window and looked down. Ino was twitching slighly and she was scratched up.

After about a half an hour later, Ino was in a hospital bed. Her face was cut up from the glass, she had a broken nose, a broken rib, a minor fracture in her hip, and a nurse had said she would be bedridden for at least three weeks.

Sasuke and Akane were walking together on the dusty streets of Konoha, a peaceful scilence in the air. Sasuke was talking about Konoha, and about the places in it. Akane was trying to keep up.

"and that's Ichiraku ramen stand, more often than not, you'll see naruto there."

"ok, ok, ok, that's great, but it would be better if you just showed me the big picture." Akane frowned and scratched the back of her head. "Like a cliff or something where i can see the whole villiage from."

Sasuke blushed at the thought of the two of them alone on top of hokage mountain. He had thought of that before, but hadn't done it, at the risk of having another moment like in hospital before, but she suggested it, so Sasuke smiled, grabbed her hand and took off at a fast paced run.

Thier trek carried them down the central road to the Hokage mansion. Sasuke tore through the house, making his way up to the Hokage's office, where Tsunade was napping, a nose bubble gently growing and shrinking. Sasuke walked over and shook the woman.

"Ne? Yes Uchiha?" Tsunade mumbled sleepily. her nose bubble popped.

"i want to go on top of Hokage mountain." Sasuke just stated the fact.

"sure sure, just dont go pokeing your nose where it doesnt belong." And tsunade was asleep once more. her nose bubble back to it's gowing and shrinking.

Sasuke walked out of the room chuckling. "She'd dead drunk." he whispered, shutting the door quietly. Akane giggled and followed Sasuke through twisting hallways. Eventually they came to a door at the end of a hallway. sasuke opened the door and let Akane go first. She blushed and walked out into the warm evening air.

Sasuke took her hand and walked over to the edge of a railing. "How's this view?" He turned to her and smiled when he saw her expression, pure joy. The breeze made her hair fly forward, and dance across her face.

"It's absolutely beautiful." She sighed and looked out into the distance.

"You really are." Sasuke whispered to himself, feeling the now familliar bubbles in his stomach. "You really are."

"Hmm?" Akane looked over at sasuke.

"N-nothing." Sasuke blushed feircely.

"You're blushing"

"Am not"

"You are" Akane turned all the way towards Sasuke and touched his face. "Your face is hot."

Sasuke blushed even more, and his face resembled a tomato. Akane took a step towards him so that their bodies were touching. He could feel her heart beating fast, just like his own. He put his arm around her waist and leaned his face closer to hers. She put her arms around his neck, her eyes closed slowly, and their faces hovered a millimeter apart. Their foreheads were touching. Their eyes closed, both taking in the scent of the other, and the warmpth that the other gave off. Akane was the one to give in. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

the only word to describe the feeling is

FIRE


End file.
